Machination
by Z. Alexander
Summary: Putting trust in a hero is such a risk. He's either set them free, or lost any chance he ever had. -canonverse, implied AkuRoku and SoKai-


I refuse to believe Sora saved Hollow Bastion (when Demyx came) within a couple of hours. This takes place when Sora, Donald and Goofy are taking a night to rest and gather their strength. Sora, of course, already knows about Kairi.

Guess what? I don't own Kingdom Hearts.

* * *

"Why should I listen to you? You kidnapped _Kairi!"_

"Yeah, sorry about that," he replied, stepping forward. Only slightly. It wouldn't do to make Sora uncomfortable - he just wanted Sora to see how important this was. The stop hadn't originally been in the plan, but Saïx had forced his hand when he'd taken Kairi away. He wasn't sorry, but Sora didn't need to know that.

Sora drew back, looking confused. He must have expected him to say something a little more…evil? Diabolical? The boy had been cheated out of a grey mindset. _If you're not with us, you're against us. _It was almost pathetic, how much Sora trusted those he called 'friends.' If only he knew…

And Axel was going to enlighten him.

He sighed. "Listen, buddy-"

"I'm not your _buddy!"_

"Well, the _important _part of you is," he snapped. He rolled his eyes. "As I was _saying, _I only _kidnapped_ your best friend, your _everything. _She's most important to you, right? Sure, I kidnapped her. That's _it._ You should be glad. Your friend _Riku _wasn't so kind."

Sora scowled and stepped forward. In this light, the moonlight of Hollow Bastion, he _almost _could pass for a ghost of Roxas. But Axel wasn't stupid. Roxas wasn't awake.

"I don't know what you're talking about, but Riku is a _good person. _He-"

"Kidnapped the most important person to _me," _Axel cut in calmly, though he wanted to wring Sora's neck. Just for even _thinking _Riku was a good person. He didn't know, he didn't know. Axel took a breath. "But he didn't stop there. He _disposed of Roxas. _My best friend. My _everything."_

"No…that's…you're lying!" Sora didn't sound so sure. It must have been something in Axel's tone - he didn't exactly mind being vulnerable like _that _if it meant Sora lost confidence in that slimy little cheater. That masquerading _bitch._

"Care to tell me why I'd lie to you about _that? _Why else would I take _Kairi _from your home? She's pretty, I'll give you that, but she's not my type. All I want is Roxas."

"Roxas." Sora's frown slipped off his face and he took a step closer. Axel didn't move, even when Sora looked at the tent containing his sleeping companions before looking Axel straight in the eye. "Who _is _Roxas? Everybody keeps saying stuff about him. And…about _me. _Now you're saying Riku 'disposed of him' and they keep _calling _me Roxas…I'm not stupid, Axel. There's something wrong here. Tell me about Roxas."

He looked at the sky. It was surprising - the only other person he'd never been able to stare down was…well, it wasn't so surprising after all. Apparently, Roxas had made that gaze a little harsher…or maybe it was just knowing that just a little while ago, it _had _been Roxas, demanding to know about Sora.

When he looked at it like that, it was almost comical, but he refrained from laughing. It seemed that he was slowly gaining Sora's trust, which was what he wanted.

"Well, come on, sit down with me," he said, trying for a friendly smile. Sora looked less than impressed, but sat next to him against the wall anyway. The marketplace only had a small light on the other side, and their hiding place was shadowed. It was nice to see that Sora had no problem with shadows. _He_ wasn't scared of the dark, like his _friend._

"Roxas is my best friend," he said, stretching his legs and crossing his arms. He didn't look at Sora. "He was to me what Kairi is to you. Well," he added, "you two seem a little more…_innocent."_

He finally looked at Sora, who was looking away with what seemed to be some kind of blush and a very awkward expression. "I _way _didn't need to know," he muttered.

Axel laughed. "You probably didn't. But that's not the point. Your _friend _kidnapped him. He opened his heart to darkness - _again - _and took Roxas away from me. It-"

"Riku…did that? Went into the darkness? Even after everything that _happened?" _He seemed torn between disbelief and sadness.

"Hey," he said soothingly. "He only did it because he was too weak to beat Roxas without catching him off-guard like that. Then he brought Roxas to Twilight Town, flushed out his memories, imprisoned him inside a computer, and they wrote some kind of compulsion into the program. Just so he'd _have _to be ready and willing to give his life so you could _remember stuff."_

Sora made a choking noise. "Riku wouldn't do something like that! He'd _never _make someone disappear just so _I _could…and what do you mean, _remember? _Does this have to do with that nap we took?"

"Yeah." He sighed again, for effect. This was going better than he'd even _hoped. _"Look, my former associates were _assholes. _They tried to force you into helping them take over the Organization by removing your memories. There was a girl who helped them…her name is _Naminé."_

"Thank Naminé," Sora whispered. "Thank her for…taking _away _my memories? Is that what you're saying? You're making less sense than you were before."

"Oh, I set her free. I _can _be a good guy, you know. She was only helping them because she was lonely. Not that…she _could _be lonely. She refused to believe she had a heart. That's part of the problem with Nobodies," he said, lowering his voice and taking on an earnest tone. "We don't have hearts, but that doesn't mean we _can't _feel. They just refuse to believe they can. They want Kingdom Hearts so we can all get our _real _hearts back. But…Roxas made me _feel _like I had a heart."

"Naminé is a _Nobody? _And who would try to brainwash people just because they're _lonely? _It doesn't make sense. _I _wouldn't do that." Sora laughed, and in it, Axel could hear something like desperation. "So you're saying she took them all away and then she gave them _back? _What does this have to do with that Roxas person?"

Axel shrugged. _This _was where he delivered the punch line. "Roxas is your Nobody-"

"My _Nobody? _I never lost my…_oh. _Kairi…the other princesses…is that when…?"

"Yeah. Naminé tried to put your memories back together, but someone sabotaged you. They couldn't help you any more. Naminé and Riku decided your memories were more important than Roxas' _life. _When you were ready, they made Roxas go inside you. They made him disappear just because they wanted you to remember everything."

"They…Riku wouldn't have done that without asking first! What if…even _if _you're telling the truth, why would he just throw away someone's life like that? Maybe Roxas was a good person! Maybe-"

"He wasn't," Axel assured him. "Roxas didn't believe he had a heart. It was because _he _couldn't remember being _you. _They told him he didn't have a heart…that he couldn't feel…that Nobodies could only _pretend _to feel. He wanted _so badly _to fit in somehow, so he took that to _heart, _if you'll excuse the expression. He did what he was told, and sometimes he was told to do some really nasty things. It wasn't his fault. He didn't know better. So do you agree with your friend? Do you think he deserved to disappear in order for you to have your memories? Sure, he wasn't a good person. Neither is Riku. Neither are _you. _Just like Roxas did what he did because he was told, _you _do what _you _do because you're told. Did anybody tell you what the Organization is _for? _Did anyone tell you _why _you need to _kill _us? Every time you kill one of us, you're killing a _person. _Did they tell you that?"

"…No," Sora said quietly. "Nobody ever tells me anything."

"_I'm _telling you something."

"You're a Nobody," Sora retorted wryly. "It all works out."

Axel nodded approvingly. "That's something Roxas would say. Maybe he's starting to wake up."

"I just…I don't understand. I don't understand why anyone would do…what you're saying they did. I'm not saying I _believe _you," he continued hastily, "but…say you _are _telling the truth. Why would they do that? I've forgotten a lot of stuff. I don't remember when or where I met Riku. I don't remember what my dad looked like. To be honest…I don't even remember what I had for _breakfast _this morning. Would it _really _have been so different if I hadn't gotten all my memories back?"

"It probably would have been different." He looked at the sky again. "I know Xion's betrayal stopped progress, but I don't know what that means. It _sounds _like you would only remember the big stuff, like Kairi and some of the things you've done. You'd already know Riku; they didn't erase _those _memories. I have no idea, though. I could be wrong. But anyway, yeah, it probably would have been different. But not so different that you'd be helpless. Some things would have been the same. You would still be the Keyblade Master. They would still have lied to you and kept things from you. Of course, Kairi would be safe on Destiny Islands, not trapped in some kind of dungeon because she ran away from me and Saïx caught her. You know…all I want is to see Roxas again."

"I don't understand," Sora repeated, sadness and frustration marching across his face.

"I don't either. We didn't _choose _to lose our hearts. And they told you to kill us anyway. Like we don't deserve to exist. _You _chose to lose your heart - for a good reason, I guess - and still, they decided Roxas didn't deserve to exist. Now he's trapped inside _you _and he can't get out."

Sora looked at him, alarmed. "Are you going to turn me into a Heartless?"

"No," he said, after a moment of deliberation. He'd _planned _to gain Sora's trust, and then attack him with Heartless once he couldn't defend himself. But… "I'm not going to be like Riku. I'm not going to make you stop existing just because I…uh, just because Roxas…" He wasn't going to say he loved Roxas. It was personal and he knew no one would believe it anyway. _He _didn't even believe it. "I'm going to leave it up to you. I'm going to let you choose. Did Roxas deserve to disappear for you? I can't tell you. I have my own opinion, but _I'm _not going to meddle in your affairs. I'm going to do what Riku didn't. I'm going to leave the decision up to _you. _Whatever you decide…I'm sure it'll be the right thing. After all…everyone else trusts you to do what _they _think is the 'right' thing. Now I'm giving you a chance to decide for yourself. You don't have to do what _they _want. You get to do what _you _want. And if you want to keep fighting Heartless and Nobodies…if you want to keep killing people and trusting what _they _say…who am _I _to stop you? I'm just a _Nobody. _According to them, I don't deserve to exist any more than Roxas did."

"But…"

"One of my former associates, Demyx, will be heading an attack on this place tomorrow. They'll expect you to _kill_ him."

He stood and left Sora to decide if he could live with all those expectations - and his conscience.

He didn't look back.


End file.
